In the Dark
by CityDurl
Summary: The discovery of Data's brother on Omicron Theta brings a master manipulator to the Enterprise. One-shot during Datalore. Rated for adult situations and a wee bit of profanity. Data/Tasha


Tasha leaned on the tactical console and looked from Data, standing in front of the viewscreen, to Lore, seated at Ops. They were identical in almost every way, but the differences between them, though subtle, were profound. Lore's face was more animated than Data's. His voice was more nuanced, and there was something more artificial about it. If Lore had been human, she would have said that he sounded insincere. The innocence and wonder that was an integral part of Data's personality seemed like a fabricated sheen on Lore. Tasha wished that Deanna weren't away on leave. The Betazoid could have discerned the greatest difference between the two androids with her eyes closed. Then again, Tasha was glad that the counselor wasn't there to tell her that, to Deanna, Lore felt more real than Data.

* * *

><p>Tasha stepped into the turbolift and turned to face the door. A blur of a hand darted into the space between the closing doors and pushed them open as easily as if they were on rails. It was a stark white hand, faintly gold metallic, with flat white fingernails. The body that the doors opened to reveal was familiar to her, as was the face. It was Data's face, Data's body, but it was not Data. It was Lore, dressed in the second officer's engineering coverall.<p>

"Hold the elevator," he smirked.

Tasha stepped aside to make room for him. He gave her a once-over that she'd seen from plenty of men, but never from Data; it was disturbing to see it from his look-alike.

The tubular car had not moved. "What's your destination?" Tasha asked.

"Where are _you_ going?" Lore rejoined, adding the hint of a leer to his up and down examination of her.

None of your goddamn business, she thought. "Deck eight," she said.

"What a coincidence! That's just where I'm going, too!" he said with mock enthusiasm.

The car began to move.

"Nice tits," Lore muttered.

"_Excuse __me?_"

"I said, 'Nice pips.' What rank does that make you, anyway?"

"Lieutenant 1st Class," Tasha replied with a frown.

"Not bad. Not bad at all for someone so young." Lore raised his voice suddenly. "Halt."

The car stopped.

"Security seems awfully lax on this boat. Isn't that your job? I mean, this computer is as compliant as a dabo girl who's just been fired without a slip of latinum to her name."

"Resume," Tasha ordered, irritation in her voice. The car whirred into motion again. "There are voice recognition safety protocols built into our security system. Not just anyone can access any command."

"Oh. How educational. So it's because I sound just like _him_? Halt."

The car stopped again.

"So, let me ask you a question, Lt. 1st Class Natasha Yar. What were you doing last night between the hours of, oh, say, 9 and 11 PM?" Lore asked, one eyebrow upraised.

Tasha's eyes flashed. "My personal life is absolutely none of your business. Resume."

"Halt." The car lurched. "I suggest that you stop trying to escape our cozy tete-a-tete. I can do much more than halt this glorified tin can. I could release the emergency locks. That's a 30-deck plunge straight down. I think only one of us would survive the ride."

Tasha compressed her lips and said nothing.

"Good, I've got your attention. Now, let me rephrase my question: What was my brother doing in your quarters last night between the hours of 9 and 11 PM? That's 2100 to 2300 hours fascist time, in case you've forgotten."

Tasha folded her arms and stared straight ahead.

"Funny thing about this ship's computer – it answers every little question that I ask it, unlike you." Lore put his fingers to his chin. "I think if I asked it to kindly blow itself up, it would comply, without so much as a by-your-leave."

Tasha glared at him without speaking.

"It tells me where anyone is at any time, just because I ask. Rather Orwellian, don't you think?"

"Starfleet respects our right to privacy. We don't keep tabs on each other around here."

"It speaks! Trust me, Blondie, you're fooling yourself if you think you can keep a secret on this oversized observation lab." Lore took a step closer to her and lowered his voice. "Admit it. You're fucking my brother."

Tasha took a step back. "Data and I are _friends._ There is nothing unusual about two bridge officers working together alone at night."

Lore gave her a withering look. "Don't tell me anybody actually buys that line. Humans are stupid, but nobody's _that _stupid. It must be the best-kept worst-kept secret on this vessel."

He took another step closer, and Tasha automatically brought her right arm up in block. Lore narrowed his eyes. "Do you honestly believe that you can defend yourself against me? I could snap you like a twig."

Tasha lowered her arm, slowly, adrenaline racing through her.

"I can feel your temperature rising, little girl. I can hear your pulse accelerating. You _would _fight me, wouldn't you, with no hope of winning." He stretched an arm above her and leaned it on the wall behind her. "You've got spirit. I'll bet you're just a firecracker in bed. How my meek little brother landed you, I'll never know."

He was close enough for Tasha to feel his breath on her face. She swallowed with difficulty.

"Deny it all you want. We both know that you've found out my sick and twisted father's cruel joke – he gave an android with no feelings a sex drive. How degenerate can one be?" Lore's voice dropped to a whisper. "Have you pushed it, seen how far you can go? Do you know the depths of depravity that he would sink to, just because you asked him to?"

"That's not true! Data has a conscience," Tasha retorted.

"Well. I am not similarly encumbered. Thank you, Dr. Soong!" Lore raised his arms in mock tribute and shouted up to an invisible audience. He leaned over her again. "You know he doesn't feel anything, don't you?"

"Stop it." Tasha hated to respond to Lore's intimidation, but she couldn't help herself.

"It's the cruelest part of the whole cruel joke – the ability to orgasm without feeling pleasure. It's diabolical." He bent his head closer and touched her jaw with one finger. "But I have feelings. Lust. Desire. Ambition. All the best and worst of the human experience."

Revulsion was rising in Tasha's throat like a salty tide. And yet, his face was Data's face, his voice; a distortion of the gentle voice she'd grown so accustomed to. She felt herself in a nightmare from which she couldn't awaken.

"Wouldn't you like, just once, to hear a groan of pleasure? To see real fire in your lover's eyes? Hear words of love at that ultimate moment?" Lore cocked his head and looked from her lips to her eyes. "You wouldn't even notice the difference. You could pretend that it was him."

"Lt. Cdr. Data to Lt. Yar."

Tasha had to scrunch herself down the wall to get enough space to raise her hand and tap her comm. badge. "Lt. Yar here."

"Are you in need of assistance? The turbo-sensors show that car 17 has been at emergency stop for several minutes."

Tasha looked steadily at Lore, her right arm still crossed over her chest. He made a sound of disgust and stepped back and away. "Resume," he sneered.

"No, sir," she said quietly.

"_No, __sir_," Lore mocked.

"Are you certain?" Over the comm., Data's voice held its usual gentleness and concern.

"Yes, sir."

"Very well. Data out."

The doors opened on deck eight, and Tasha slid along the wall and backed out, still holding Lore's gaze. He raised one pale hand to his lips and kissed it, blowing his flat palm to her as the doors closed.

Tasha turned and staggered, immediately recovering her balance. Her breath came in ragged gasps through her chattering teeth.

* * *

><p>Tasha was working with a PADD at her dining table when the door chime sounded. She jumped in her seat.<p>

"Who is it?"

"It is Data," came over the intercom.

She stood up. "Computer: release door lock."

Data entered with confusion on his face. "You do not customarily lock your door. Is everything all right?"

Tasha just looked at him, wringing her hands. He looked like himself, neutral, mild, but her body was responding to his presence with fear.

Data's face fell. "Several of my crewmates have begun to regard me differently since we assembled Lore. I did not think that you would as well, Tasha."

She found her voice with effort. "I'm sorry. I had a . . . strange . . . encounter with your brother today."

"What happened?"

"Data, how do I know you're you?" Tasha blurted out.

He looked mystified. "It _is _I."

"Then tell me something only you and I would know – something private."

Data thought for a moment. "You have a small, flat, pink mole on your left axillary region. When touched there, you feel ticklish." Data smiled hopefully.

Tasha frowned and shook her head. "Not good enough. Identifying marks might be in my medical records, and most humans have ticklish armpits."

"_Tasha!_" Data was astounded.

"Please. Something else. Something no one else could possibly know."

His eyes scanned back and forth as he searched his memory records. Finally, he said, "The first time we were intimate, when you were infected with the Tsiolkovsky virus, you remarked that I had no hair on my chest. I told you that I could grow some, if you preferred, and you laughed, very loudly, for 7.6 seconds." He looked at her expectantly.

She let out a breath and quickly walked to him and hugged him tightly. "I'm sorry. I just had to make sure." She lifted her face. "Your brother left a pretty strong impression on me. He is . . . not a very nice person."

"I am attempting to withhold judgment on Lore's personality until I have sufficiently observed his behavior, but I am inclined to say that you may be right."

"Oh, it _is _you." Tasha kissed him on the cheek.

"Now, would you tell me what happened?"

"No. I don't want to talk about it."

Data made an exasperated sound. "Your capriciousness will never cease to surprise me."

"I'm not being capricious. I don't want to talk to you about what happened, because I don't want you to talk to him about what happened. Just suffice to say that it was unsettling."

"I know better than to try to convince you otherwise, once you have reached a decision," Data replied.

"You know me so well." Tasha kissed him on the cheek again.

Data looked at her uncertainly. "How would you like to employ our time together this evening?"

"I was going over some progress reports from my team supervisors before you came in. Do you want to help me?"

"Of course." Data hesitated. "Though that would be much different from our customary activities."

"Hmmm . . . about that. I may have a proverbial headache until Lore leaves the ship."

Data looked perplexed until he found the reference and discerned her meaning. "Ah."

"Yeah. No offense, but I need some time to get an image out of my head."

"As you wish."

* * *

><p>Time passed, and the crew's gross underestimation of Lore's malevolence played out, coming to a head in a fight in cargo bay three. Several of the bridge crew attempted to regain their composure in the aftermath. Tasha and Data walked out of the cargo bay together, ahead of the captain and first officer, Wesley on their heels.<p>

"My god, Data, what did he do to you? Are you all right?" Tasha asked him.

"Lore concocted a quadrotanium mixture that rendered me unconscious. He was planning to turn the ship over to the crystalline entity. Wesley was able to beam Lore into space just before he could fire on us."

"Wesley!" Tasha turned to him. "Are you okay?"

"I guess I will be. Lore set my mom on fire. He threatened to do the same thing to me." Wes turned to Data. "Your brother was the scariest person I think I've ever met."

"He is gone now. Thank you for your help in removing him," Data replied.

Wes nodded. "I think I'll catch up with my mom and go to sickbay before I go back to the bridge. Will you tell the Captain, Lt. Yar?"

"Sure."

Wesley ran off down the hall.

Tasha looked both ways and risked a squeeze of Data's hand. "I should've known that it wasn't you on the bridge. I had a feeling, but Wes was the only one who spoke up. I feel terrible."

"It could not be helped. Lore's deception was complete."

Tasha still looked consternated. "I should've known. Augh! Let's get you to engineering."

They hurried down the hall.

* * *

><p>Data and Tasha sat together on the couch in the living area of her quarters, re-hashing the unusual events of the last few days. An hour passed before Data attempted a change of subject.<p>

"You suggested that we abstain so long as Lore was on the ship," he reminded Tasha.

"Mm-hmm." Tasha loved it when Data propositioned her, no matter how obliquely. It happened so rarely that it never failed to make her heart take flight.

"Lore is no longer on the ship," Data noted.

"Hopefully, he's no longer on this plane of existence."

"Is it not wrong to rejoice at the death of another being?" Data asked.

"I don't know. It's human to be grateful that you defeated an enemy who tried to destroy everything that you love," Tasha replied.

"My brother was my enemy. It is a tragic story, is it not?"

Tasha nodded. "You deserved better."

She kissed him, intending to be comforting, but their self-imposed hiatus had sharpened her desire to a keen edge. She rose up on her knees and took him by the shoulders, devouring him with her kiss. Data took his cue from her as always, responding to her urgency with a precisely calculated roughness. She wrapped her legs around him, her feet against the back of the couch, her arms tight around him. He kissed her mouth, then moved to her neck, his hand on her breast, thumb circling her nipple over her clothes. He stood easily, Tasha clinging to him like a monkey, and walked them into her bedroom.

Data lifted his mouth from the hollow beneath her ear. "Computer: dim lights."

"No!" Tasha's blue eyes were suddenly wide.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I want to be able to see you. I want to know that it's _you_."

They stood in the dark for several seconds, face to face, Data effortlessly supporting Tasha's weight in his hands. She looked into his innocent golden eyes, her eyes becoming used to the darkness, and slowly she began to smile.

"Never mind." She closed the distance between them and kissed him again, exploring him by touch. After a while, he laid her down gently and joined her on her bed.

"I won't let him destroy my trust in you," Tasha whispered.

"Thank you. I would not want either of us to lose something so precious," Data whispered back.

"No." She stroked his cheek and traced his lips with one finger. His face – once again it was unique, unlike any other in the universe.

She pulled him down to her. "Besides, I'm sure I could've told you two apart, even in the dark."


End file.
